From This Collection

How do you calculate a company's carbon footprint? The SEC is figuring that out.

Jan 19, 2022
Emissions by a company's suppliers and customers could count towards the total.
The SEC may soon require companies to disclose greenhouse gas emissions. Whether they'll also include emissions from suppliers — usually a larger proportion of emissions — is unclear.
Nilmar Lage/AFP via Getty Images

Cities can lessen economic impact of climate change with green infrastructure

Jan 18, 2022
The alternative? $31 trillion in lost GDP worldwide.
Parts of the Philippines have struggled to find the balance between preserving natural ecosystems and investing in man-made alternatives.
Jes Aznar/ Getty Images

Oil jobs abound in West Texas, but obstacles hamper hiring

Jan 12, 2022
Is it the Great Resignation? A clean-energy future? Higher wages? Or all of the above?
Unemployment in Midland, Texas, has dropped since the summer, but the city's labor market remains tight.
Montinique Monroe/Getty Images

Virtual conferences significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions

Dec 27, 2021
A new study in the journal Nature Communications says going virtual can reduce an event's carbon footprint by 94%.
By hosting a conference online instead of in person, organizers can curb emissions by more than 90%.
Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

FEMA plans to double down on climate preparedness

Dec 10, 2021
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's new strategic plan focuses on helping communities adapt to the changing climate.
A FEMA task force searches a flooded North Carolina neighborhood in 2018. The emergency response agency is boosting its investment in helping communities withstand destructive weather.
Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images

Oil execs ponder a future without oil as they gather in Houston

Dec 7, 2021
We won't stop using fossil fuels right away, but the transition to renewable energy could be tricky.
A poster of an offshore drilling station at the World Petroleum Congress, where the oil industry is discussing its role in the future of energy.
Brandon Bell via Getty Images

Christmas tree supplies are tight, and climate change is to blame

Nov 23, 2021
Expect trees to cost 5% to 10% more than they did last year.
A Christmas tree is loaded into a truck on Nov. 21. Christmas trees quantities are lower this year as a result of extreme heat and cutbacks in planting during the Great Recession.
Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Biden administration auctions oil and gas leases on 1.7 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico

Nov 19, 2021
A court ordered the administration to resume the auctions it had suspended.
Drilling of the newly auctioned Gulf of Mexico gas and oil leases likely won't begin for seven to 10 years. Above, a drilling platform off the coast of Texas.
Tom Pennington via Getty Images

There isn't enough space for all of the trees companies want to plant

Nov 8, 2021
By one estimate, the pledges out there already would require a forest five times the size of India.
New research by Oxfam indicates that there may not be enough room to plant all the trees proposed in corporate climate pledges. Above, native birch trees grow next to a desert of volcanic sand in Iceland.
Sean Gallup via Getty Images

What does it mean for a company to be "water-positive"?

Nov 5, 2021
Journalist Amanda Schupak explains how companies like PepsiCo are trying to put more water into the environment than they take out.
The Atchafalaya River in Louisiana is plagued by a buildup of dirt, sand and silt. As some water sources face stress, some companies have pledged to strengthen them.
Drew Angerer via Getty Images